Luke Flanagan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent)
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523. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs when she expects the Child and Family Agency Bill 2013 to be completed; and how soon thereafter will the agency be set up; the level of funding with which she expects to start the agency; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [54193/13]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The legislation to establish the new Child and Family Agency (CFA) has recently completed its passage through the Oireachtas. The Child and Family Agency Bill has been signed by the President and it is now the Child and Family Agency Act 2013 (No. 40 of 2013). The necessary Commencement and Establishment Orders are in preparation to allow for establishment of the Agency on 1 January 2014 as planned.

The establishment of the Child and Family Agency is a key priority for the Government. From its establishment the Agency will have service responsibility for:

- Child welfare and protection services currently operated by the HSE including family support and alternative care services;

- Child and family-related services for which the HSE currently has responsibility including pre-school inspections and domestic, sexual and gender-based violence services;

- Services relating to the psychological welfare of children and their families currently provided by the HSE;

- The Family Support Agency and the National Educational Welfare Board which currently operate as separate bodies under the Department of Children and Youth Affairs will be merged into the new Agency.

The gross budget allocation for the Agency for 2014 will exceed €600 million. The precise allocation for the Agency will be declared this week in the Revised Estimates Volume.